Legislation

Dogs and their owners today face numerous challenges from overzealous lawmakers and from Animal Rights (AR) activists. Lawmakers sometimes want to restrict our rights, for often questionable reasons. AR zealots want to totally eliminate pet animals. Their goal is to end pet ownership, dog shows and the use of animals by humans for any purpose.

Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) has been passed in several jurisdictions. These BSL laws have varied from severe restrictions (mandatory muzzling, mandatory sterilization, liability insurance requirements, etc.) to outright bans on ownership of certain breeds of dogs. In 2005 California passed SB861, a law that allows local jurisdictions to implement BSL. While SB861 does not allow absolute bans on specific breeds, it does allow mandatory sterilization of specific breeds as a backdoor way of eliminating a chosen breed of dog.

In California we successfully fought AB 1634 for a year and a half until its final defeat in the California Senate in August, 2008. AB 1634 was a draconian mandatory sterilization bill that would have eliminated the breeding of dogs and cats in California. Thanks to the grassroots efforts of many animal lovers, including our entire ARF membership, we not only defeated this legislation but we also succeeded in ending the state political career of its author, Ex-Assemblyman Lloyd Levine. We sent a strong message that pet owners will not sit quietly while politicians attack our rights and our animals.

Here are several resources continue to monitor anti-canine legislation::